Glenbrook North's Dragicevich exiting Notre Dame

March 27, 2012|By Brian Hamilton | Tribune reporter

Typical of Alex Dragicevich, he deadpanned that his Tuesday was pretty chock-full. He bought a three-day pass to Lollpalooza. He swam a half-mile with some Notre Dame basketball players. And he met with Irish coach Mike Brey to discuss his transferring out of the program.

"Really productive day," Dragicevich said by phone Tuesday night.

In a move that had been percolating for a couple months but came as a bit of a surprise when it went public, the 6-foot-7-inch Dragicevich decided to leave Notre Dame after a sophomore season in which he played in all 34 games and started 10 of them.

The Glenbrook North product averaged 20.9 minutes and 6.6 points per game. The issue, evidently, was that he did not see that improving.

"I don't know of this is really the best fit for me as a player," Dragicevich said. "I think that toward the end of this year, I felt like the future wasn't as bright.

"My role on the team was a pleasure this year, it was great. If I wanted to experience more than that, I thought looking elsewhere would be advantageous for me."

His concerns may be valid. Notre Dame is optimistic that Scott Martin will receive a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA. Pat Connaughton will return after starting 18 games. And the Irish will welcome top 30 talent and Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year Cameron Biedscheid into the fold.

All of that would create a serious logjam for playing time at the wing position if Dragicevich stayed. Thus he made what he called an "extremely tough" choice to go.

"I think that I don't see my minutes maybe increasing that much out here," Dragicevich said. "Potentially, they could somewhere else, hopefully."

So Dragicevich met with Brey on Tuesday to discuss his departure.

"He couldn't have been more understanding of how I was feelng or what I was thinking and was just so open to what I thought was best for me," Dragicevich said. "He really wants to help me in this process. That's something that was really great."

Said Brey in a statement: "I am sorry to see Alex leave our basketball program, but I fully support his decision to transfer to another school. Alex has been a terrific representative our basketball program and always has conducted himself with a great deal of class. My staff, players and I, in addition to our entire Notre Dame basketball family, wish Alex nothing but the best as he continues his playing career at another institution."

Dragicevich does not have a destination in mind.

"I'm just kind of taking in whatever interest is there and I will kind of sift through my options and find the best place for me," he said. "I'm extremely wide open, I would say."

In another, more expected alteration to the 2012-13 roster, Brey confirmed that forward Mike Broghammer's playing career has come to an end.

Chronic knee issues plagued the 6-foot-9-inch Orono, Minn., native and Broghammer played just 251 minutes in his three seasons with the Irish.

The departures do create an interesting scenario for the Irish in terms of scholarship numbers.

It could allow Brey and his staff to consider taking at least one transfer to bolster a roster in the future -- or if the NCAA is lenient about a waiver, to bolster a 2012-13 unit returning other key cogs from a team that finished 13-5 in the Big East after losing its best player, Tim Abromaitis, to a torn ACL.

A source close to the program said any consideration about transfers likely will wait until Martin's situation clears up. But there is one tantalizing option out there already: Arizona State's Trent Lockett, a 6-foot-5-inch combo guard who recently announced he was transferring to be closer to his sick mother in Minnesota.

Lockett's family situation might prompt the NCAA to grant him immediate eligibility, and he would infuse the Irish with a veteran presence that can play three positions -- perhaps most importantly offering an option to spell Eric Atkins at the point.